Outline:Agricultural Economics is home to an amazing variety of approaches in economic theory and empirical measurement. Wassily Leontief characterized the field as ”an exceptional example of a healthy balance, theoretical and empirical analysis, and of the readiness of professional economists to cooperate with experts in the neighbouring disciplines,and as demonstrating the effectiveness of a systematic combination of theoretical approach with detailed factual analysis”. This first volume of the Handbook of Agricultural Economics presents recent work on topics central to the economics of agriculture - the quantitative representation of technology, market expectations, household production behavior, consumer behavior with uncertain quality and safety of goods, issues of imperfect competition in food marketing. The Handbook covers the most exciting and innovative work being done today on these and related topics, on all of which agricultural economists have made notable contributions to economic science.Volume IA treats issues in agricultural production, representing the consequences of decades of work deepening and widening the original focus of agricultural economics on farm management. In addition to the theory and estimation of production and supply behavior in agriculture, chapters are devoted to topics on which major advancements have been made: technological change, returns to agricultural research, the industrial structure of agriculture, land institutions and markets, human capital and finance. Two chapters are further specialized to rural labor and household issues: migration and the role of women in developing countries.Volume IB deals with the economics of agricultural products after they leave the farm. Seven chapters explain recent developments in application of dual approaches in household economies, the industrial organization of food marketing, marketing margins between farm and retail prices, spatial price analysis, commodity storage and price stabilization, commodity futures and options markets, and the economics of food safety.Volumes IA and IB each follow their specialized chapters with a synthesis chapter that brings together and assesses the main themes and issues of the field, and volume IB concludes with an overall synthesis of the state of and prospects for agricultural economics as applied economic science. Volumes Volume 1A : Agricultural Production Volume 1B : Marketing, Distribution, and Consumers 2-Volume Set